factive

F4A1C3T1I1V4E1

adjective

Licensing only those content clauses that represent claims that are (known or believed with certainty to be) true.

Opposite
nonfactivecontrafactive
UncommonScrabble 15
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Meanings

factive1

adjectivefactive (not comparable)
  1. not comparablegrammarLicensing only those content clauses that represent claims that are (known or believed with certainty to be) true.

    Under this account, verbs like forget and remember are classified as factive (1) and verbs like think and believe as nonfactive (2).

    2003, Petra Schulz, Factivity: Its Nature and Acquisition, de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 2

    Antonyms: nonfactive, contrafactive

  2. not comparableepistemologyWhich does not know any falsities: which knows only truths.
nounfactive (plural factives)

plural factives

  1. grammarA factive verb.

factive2

adjectivefactive (not comparable)
  1. not comparableobsoleteMaking; creative.

factive3

nounfactive (plural factives)

plural factives

  1. Internetmultiplicity slang; living character subculture; multiplicity slang; living character subcultureA fictive taking its source from a physical person rather than a fictional work.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveLicensing only those content clauses that represent claims that are (known or believed with certainty to be) true.

Opposite
nonfactivecontrafactive

Origin

factive · adjective, noun

From fact + -ive.

Full word history & related roots →

factive · adjective

  1. Latinfacere“to make”
  2. New Latinfactīvus
  3. Englishfactive

From New Latin factīvus, from Latin facere (“to make”).

More words from New Latin, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

factive · noun

Blend of fact + fictive

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German faktiv
  • faktivTranslations
Polish faktywny
  • faktywnyTranslations

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with factive

activeinteractiveattractiveinactiveradioactivereactiveproactiverefractiveunattractivehyperactiveextractiveoveractiveimmunoreactivesubtractiveunderactivetractivecontractiveabstractivecounteractivedetractivedistractiveenactivehyperreactivehypoactive
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

factive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/factive

MLA

“factive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/factive. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “factive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/factive.

Source: factive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.